Ein bisschen.
On second thought, make that a lot.
The One and his disciples have been quite ambitious in their efforts to bring change to America. Nowhere has their zealotry been more evident than in their desire to co-opt and employ federally funded arts programs for the purpose of advancing the Statist cause.
In the latest wave of breaking stories posted at Andrew Breitbart’s BigHollywood.com and BigGovernment.com, the Obama administration is revealed to be deeply involved in “encouraging” the National Endowment for the Arts to promote the radical expansion of government control over the American citizen’s life.
Just as state-controlled education promotes the creation of a Statist-friendly product, so too does state-controlled art. Where government has power, it will always first act to secure its position and promote its growth.
From the passed-at-the-speed-of-light stimulus bill (also known as “The Trillion Dollar Mulligan”) to Obamacare, the very foundations of America are under assault, and the American people are beginning to catch on. With each passing “progressive” proposal, we get a clearer picture as to precisely the sort of change that The One has in mind.
For all of the fraud, deceit and flat-out evil revealed through the unfolding ACORN saga, and for all of the anger and awe inspired by the fact of the Obama administration’s use of the NEA as a political weapon, these things are merely a reflection of The One at the top. Those at the helm of ACORN and the NEA are mere followers. Their fraud, deceit and ends-justify-the-means approach to advancing the Statist cause are all expressions of their leader’s will.
This is how cults tend to work.
Whether considering Obamacare’s funding of abortions and its coverage for illegal immigrants, or whether contemplating the community-organizer-in-chief’s pre-presidential resume and his post-election pronouncements, we are always best served by first examining the nature and character of the man himself.
Can he be trusted?
When he speaks, can we believe? (Supercool propaganda posters and bumper-stickers notwithstanding.)
ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos gave us another in a long line of consistent answers to this vital question during his interview of President Obama on Sunday’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos:
STEPHANOPOULOS: …during the campaign. Under this mandate, the government is forcing people to spend money, fining you if you don’t.
How is that not a tax?
OBAMA: Well, hold on a second, George. Here — here’s what’s happening. You and I are both paying $900, on average — our families — in higher premiums because of uncompensated care. Now what I’ve said is that if you can’t afford health insurance, you certainly shouldn’t be punished for that. That’s just piling on.
If, on the other hand, we’re giving tax credits, we’ve set up an exchange, you are now part of a big pool, we’ve driven down the costs, we’ve done everything we can and you actually can afford health insurance, but you’ve just decided, you know what, I want to take my chances. And then you get hit by a bus and you and I have to pay for the emergency room care, that’s…
STEPHANOPOULOS: That may be, but it’s still a tax increase.
OBAMA: No. That’s not true, George. The — for us to say that you’ve got to take a responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase. What it’s saying is, is that we’re not going to have other people carrying your burdens for you anymore than the fact that right now everybody in America, just about, has to get auto insurance. Nobody considers that a tax increase.
People say to themselves, that is a fair way to make sure that if you hit my car, that I’m not covering all the costs.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But it may be fair, it may be good public policy…
OBAMA: No, but — but, George, you — you can’t just make up that language and decide that that’s called a tax increase. Any…
STEPHANOPOULOS: Here’s the…
OBAMA: What — what — if I — if I say that right now your premiums are going to be going up by 5 or 8 or 10 percent next year and you say well, that’s not a tax increase; but, on the other hand, if I say that I don’t want to have to pay for you not carrying coverage even after I give you tax credits that make it affordable, then…
STEPHANOPOULOS: I — I don’t think I’m making it up. Merriam Webster’s Dictionary: Tax — “a charge, usually of money, imposed by authority on persons or property for public purposes.”
OBAMA: George, the fact that you looked up Merriam’s Dictionary, the definition of tax increase, indicates to me that you’re stretching a little bit right now. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have gone to the dictionary to check on the definition. I mean what…
STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, no, but…
OBAMA: …what you’re saying is…
STEPHANOPOULOS: I wanted to check for myself. But your critics say it is a tax increase.
OBAMA: My critics say everything is a tax increase. My critics say that I’m taking over every sector of the economy. You know that.
Look, we can have a legitimate debate about whether or not we’re going to have an individual mandate or not, but…
STEPHANOPOULOS: But you reject that it’s a tax increase?
OBAMA: I absolutely reject that notion.
Obama “absolutely rejects the notion” that what Merriam’s Dictionary defines as a tax is, in fact, a tax.
Talk about channeling your inner-Clinton…
And let’s be thorough here: The dictionary definition of tax here applies completely in context. There is nothing about the term that does not fit. Context is to linguistic interpretation what location is to real estate, and pretending otherwise can and often does lead to terribly inaccurate renderings of a word or thought’s meaning, but we can be certain that in this case context mandates that we accept that Obama is proposing a significant new tax…
…while emphatically denying that he is doing so.
All with a laugh and a smile, of course.
So, is he an idiot? Is he a liar?
One thing seems likely: He’s pretty sure that you’re an idiot. You and everyone else who heard his words. He believes this and he is betting everything on it.
Wouldn’t it have been nice if, before being confronted with this “tax explanation” problem, we had sought the clear definition of another term?
Like, I don’t know, maybe “change”?
Copyright 2009 S.A. Buss – Feel free to re-post this piece, but only with the copyright included and a link to Fire Breathing Christian whenever possible. Thank you!
See also: “Everybody Expects…the Liberal Inquisition!” at https://www.firebreathingchristian.com in the Article Archives.
See also: “Create a Godless Nation? YES! WE! CAN!” at https://www.firebreathingchristian.com in the Article Archives.
See also: “You’re Surely a Racist, If…” at https://www.firebreathingchristian.com in the Article Archives.
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Sometimes the tax revenue is a very scary thing for us. Because we have to get out some extra cash. However, the tax is very important to support the development of a country. Thank you for telling this good info.
And BTW, when did Merriam Webster's Dictionary become "Merriam's"? Had GW (certainly no favorite of mine, but certainly also intellectually competent) come up with that one the MSM would have burned him at the stake (after finally stopping rolling on the floor in fits of laughter).
Intro to College 101: More important than Newton's Laws, or Einstein's Theories of Relativity, or anything else ever studied and expounded upon, is the law that government, or any bureaucracies in that government, is to preserve and expand its influence no matter the real (monetary) or theoretical (social) cost.
Unfortunately, the theoretical costs of nearly every government program are all too real to the people who suffer from the government's "help".